Innovate Arkansas Calendar

How to Write a Business Plan

12/3/2008: No matter how large or small, all businesses must have a business plan! A business plan will help you define your concept, evaluate your competition, determine risks, and estimate your costs. This seminar will explain and illustrate the business plan format.

French Consul General to Address Arkansas Committee on Foreign Relations

12/3/2008: The Arkansas Committee on Foreign Relations on Dec. 3 will present French Consul General Pierre Grandjouan, who will discuss the diplomatic and economic relationship between the United States and France.

The event will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Little Rock Club, which is located on the top floor of the Regions Bank building at the corner of Broadway and Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock. Tickets are $22 per person, which includes lunch. Reservations can be made by e-mailing csmith@conwaycorp.net.

To become a member of ACFR, contact Warwick Sabin at (501) 450-3247 or wsabin@uca.edu.

IT Day for Parents & Educators

12/4/2008: Worried about your kid's future? Learn more about opportunities in information technology, a recession-proof field in a shrinking economy. IT Day for Parents & Educators will be held on Thursday, Dec. 4 from 6-8 p.m. at Walker Hall, Seminar Room 203, on the University of Arkansas campus. Free dinner and parking will be offered. RSVP to cpine@walton.uark.edu or (479) 575-4261. More information is at http://itri.uark.edu/765.asp.

2008 USA Rice Outlook Conference

12/7/2008: The 2008 USA Rice Outlook Conference will be held Dec. 7- 9 at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock.

This year's conference will feature a trade show and an educational program focusing on key issues for rice farmers and the United States rice industry. The program will cover the economic outlook, farm bill implementation, the domestic and international rice situation, research reports from the rice-growing states and other topics.

Conference registration, exhibitor and sponsorship information is available online at www.usarice.com. Registration for the "early bird" rate is before Nov. 14.

CompTIA Security +

12/8/2008: Security+ Certification is the primary course you will need to take if your job responsibilities include securing network services, network devices, and network traffic. It is also the main course you will take to prepare for the CompTIA Security+ examination. In this course, you will build on your knowledge and professional experience with computer hardware, operating systems, and networks as you acquire the specific skills required to implement basic security services on any type of computer network.

Reasonable Marketing in an Unreasonable Economy

12/10/2008: Many business owners consider marketing to be just advertising and selling. In tough economic times, those techniques just won't cut it. In this presentation, the speaker shares approaches that are not only practical and low cost but also effective for any size business. Among techniques to be covered are: developing a competitive edge, public relations, tried-and-true promotional tools from the past, powerful partnerships, networking, and valuable e-marketing tools.